Jeannine: Dr. Guenther, your biography reads like a “Who’s Who” in teaching, performance, leadership, writing, and fund raising. You serve in many different capacities in the organ world and are certainly a role model for not only young women organists, but organists and musicians worldwide. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with our readers from your extensive career. LeadershipJ: You are in your third term as the National President of the American Guild of Organists and are only the third woman to lead this organization since its founding in 1896. What are your primary goals for the 17,000 organists and choral musicians who are members of the AGO?Dr. Guenther: I have had several goals: increasing the profile of the organ in our culture; raising appreciation for the organ in worship; and hospitality- encouraging chapters to extend a “radical welcome” to everyone at a meeting or a recital. J: To learn more about the American Guild of Organists visit www.agohq.org. You can also register for the 2014 National AGO Convention by visitinghttp://www.agoboston2014.org/

FundraisingJ: You have worked with the Concert for Life organization which has raised over $1,000,000 for organizations serving those livingwith HIV-AIDS in Southern Africa and in the Washington area. Please tell us why and how you got involved in this project and the impact it has had only on those with HIV/AIDS but on your life as well.Dr. Guenther: Actually, I was artistic director of the concerts. I worked with a team of committed and energetic people who provided the organizational structure. At the time we began the concerts, the spectre of AIDS was huge in the Washington area and many of us had lost friends and colleagues to that disease. Its impact in Southern Africa was even greater and, influenced by my teaching and travel in Southern Africa, we came to expand our outreach to organizations in Zimbabwe and South Africa that I knew provided either education (Africa University in Zimbabwe) or care for infants and youth who either had AIDS or had been orphaned by AIDS.TeachingJ: In your position as Professor of Church Music at Wesley Theological Seminary, what is your passion and what do you hope your students take away from their work with you?Dr. Guenther: I want students to have a 3-way appreciation; appreciation of music and its role in worship ; appreciation of the skills and commitment of the musician(s); and an appreciation of the value of teamwork between clergy and musician in worship planning and leadership.

WritingJ:Rivals or a Team? Clergy-Musician Relationships in the 21st Century (MorningStar Music Publishers, 2012) has garnered a great deal of media attention from blogs to denominational newsletters to The Huffington Post. Why do you think people are interested in this subject? Will improved relationships between clergy and musicians help fill the pews again?Dr. Guenther: This is a much bigger issue than many realize. When clergy and musician do not partner well, the tension between them is often felt by the congregation, creating a sense of “dis-case” at the very least, potentially causing people to line up and take sides when the conflict is more serious. The mission and vision of the church can get lost in the power struggle, resulting in a congregational divide that can split a congregation. I have written and spoken on this subject for a very long time, and was delighted when Mark Lawson asked me to write a book on the subject and have it ready in time for the AGO convention in Nashville. The book addresses leadership in a general way (focusing on servant leadership), and it also compiles the wisdom of a lot of people: clergy write about what they’d like musicians to know; musicians write about what they’d like clergy to know; and the final chapter is a set of reflections by colleagues on their careers as musicians. These are sometimes heart-warming stories, and sometimes painful stories. One person reported having been diagnosed with PTSD after the way the church she left had treated her. I think it was the mention in one interview of PTSD that caught the attention of a lot of news organizations – people just can’t believe the church would treat people the way some musicians have been treated. PerformanceJ: Your Kennedy Center performance on the Rubenstein Family Organ on October 30, 2013 was the first performance by an AGO president that was streamed live over the Internet. What was the importance of this groundbreaking webcast to the organ world?Dr. Guenther: I’m not sure I know the answer to this. I was honored to be asked to play (having actually made the first recording on the earlier organ in the Concert Hall of the Kennedy Center) – but anything that allows more people to hear the beauty and power of the organ is something to be celebrated!

J: Thank you Dr. Guenther for sharing your insights and congratulations on your three wonderfully successful terms as the National President of the American Guild of Organists and for your promotion to Professor at Wesley Theological Seminary. _________________________________